Recharging system for rapid-firing guns



` Sept. 21, 1943. J. G. MEJEAN RECHARGING SYSTEM FOR RAPID FIRLN'G GUNS 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

Filed June 6, 1941 734m* R I Ams.

SePt- 2l, 1943- J. G. MEJEAN RECHARGING SYSTEM FOR RPID FIRING GUNS -Filed June 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w anims .W y@ L glfaglill "M qw.

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Patented Sept. 21, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFiCE RECHARGING SYS'IISOR RAPID-FIRIN t y K GUNS Jacques Gustave Mejean, Geneva, Switzerland, assig-nor, by mesne assignments, to General Aircraft Equipment, Inc., South Norwalk,`Conn., a corporation of Connecticut 1 Application June 6, 1941, serian No. s9`s,919

v 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a system for recharging machine guns, such as vthe well-known .50 caliber Browning machine gun.

More particularly the present invention relates to a system for recharging machine guns and which effectively handles the initial peak load, requires a minimum of space and also a minimum quantity of compressed air for operation. To accomplish its purpose the system makes use of a telescopic arrangement which Will be described in detail.

'Ihe principal object of the invention is the provision of a. simple and effective system for recharging machine guns, light automatic cannon and the like.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such ya. system which is built on the telescopic principle with one piston cylinder disposed within another, the two pistons being actuated as a unit at the beginning of the recharging stroke to take care of the large initial load, and then, after the initial load has been overcome, the smaller piston being actuated to complete the recharging stroke.

The invention has for still a further object the provision of a system for Ythe recharging of machine guns and the like, in which, the consumption of compressed air is kept at a minimum.

'I'hese and other objects of the invention will be more apparent from the following description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: f

Fig. l is a top view in section of the invention showing the system in its uncharged position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in section, and showing the system just after it has completed the recharging operation. l

Fig. 3 is a top plan view, partly in section, showing the trip mechanism used with the invention.

Fig. 4 is a, View on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the trip mechanism. y

Fig. 6 is a view on the line VI-VI of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a. diagram showing the forces required in the operation of the system.

Machine guns are usually provided with a stud which projects laterallyfrom the gun and which must be moved toward the back of the gun to recharge the same. I'he effort required to move this stud back is not equal and constant. There is a peak load at the beginning of the stroke. Moreover, there are other factors of importance which must be taken into account in any recharging system. One of these is the'length ofthe system and the other is the amount of compressed air required for the operation of the system.

Thev invention which will rnow be described in greater detail, admirably -and effectively takes these factors into account.

With particular refkerence'to Figs. 1 and 2, the reference numeral I0 indicates a stud which projects laterally from the machine gun and which must be forcibly moved towardthe rear of the machine gun (to the right of Fig. l) to recharge the same. VSecured to the side of the machine gun by clamps or other means (not shown) is a cylindrical casing l2 which houses the arrangement. This casing is provided witha longitudinal slot indicated at I4 into whichslot the stud I0 projects. Y

The cylindrical casing I2 houses two telescoping cylindrical pistons, a larger o-ne I6 and a smaller one Il?.` The front end of the larger telescoping'r member I6.is threaded to receive a cap member .2(1.v The capmember has a central projecting boss 22 on which is secured a nut 24 having an annular groove 26 therein. Disposed between the nut 24 and the cap member 20 is a suitable packing ring 28. The c ap member 20 and its projecting boss 22-are provided with a passage 23 for compressed air. The inner end of the passage is conica'ivin form. r The frontend of the casing I2 is provided with a capmember vil() which is threaded thereon. The cap member 3l) is provided with an interior passage 32 leading to' a source of compressed4 air (not shown).

The larger telescoping piston I6 is urged toward the frontgby means of the spring 34 which at one end abuts against the cap member 20 and at the other abuts against a ringstop member 3B rigidly. secured to the inner wall of the cylindrical casing I2.

'I'he smaller telescoping piston I8 is disposed within the larger'piston I6. It is provided at its front end with a plugi member 38 which likewise has an inwardly projecting bo-ss 40 screw-threadedtoreceive a (nut 42. The plug member ai; its largest diameter engages the inner wall of the larger piston I6' with a sliding t. The nut 42 is provided'with an annular groove 44. Between the nut 42 and the plug member v38 is a suitable packing ring 46. The smaller telescoping piston I8 is urged toward the front (that is to the left of Fig. 1) by means of a spring 48 which at its left end abuts the plug 38 and at its right end abuts against a stop ring 39 rigidly secured to the inner Wall of the larger t'elescoping piston I6. The right or rear end ofthe telescoping piston' IB is closed by a plug 50. This plug carries 'a trip mechanism which will now be described.

" From Figs. 3, 4 and 5 it will be seen that the laterally from the machine gun. The longer arm 66 of the trip lever 56 has its movement in one` direction limited by a stop pin 63 `which passes through openings 1U in the walls 52 and 54. y Means are provided for releasably retaining the trip leverl 56 in either of its .two principal posi- 115 12 having one end rounded. The pin is disposed tions. Such means are comprised of a small pin in an opening 14 in the wall 54 (see Fig. 5) and is,

greater in length than the thickness of the wall.

The inner rounded end of the pin 12 is adapted *Y to engage in either of two depressions 16 in the longer arm 66 of the vtrip lever 56. vThe pin is pressed inwardly by means of a leaf spring 18, the free end of which engages the same and the other end of which is provided with an opening through which thepin 66 passes. Thehead of pin 66 holds the spring against the wall 54. (See Fig. 4.) `With the arrangement shown and described the trip lever will be retained in one or the other of its positions until it is forcibly moved through engagement with either the stop ring `36, or lstop ring 86 secured to the inner wall `of the cylindricalcasing I2.

The device operates in the following manner:

rWhen the machine gun is ready for recharging,

the recharging system is in the positiondisclosed in Fig. 1 with thestud I6 in position A. lCornpressed air is admitted through the passage 32 and enters the annular groove 26 in the nut 2 4,

and acting on the walls of thegroovethus moves both the larger and smaller telescoping pistons I6 and IB las a unit rearwardly (to the right of l Fig. l) During this movement,lthe notch 62 of the trip lever 56`engages the stud II! and moves it rearwardly. After theinitial load required for loosening the packing member 28'and for moving the stud has been overcome,.the compressed air which has entered the'conical passage 23 acts' against the walls of the annular groove 44-in the nut 42, and thus advances the smaller telescoping piston I8 alone to the right and this continues the rearward movement of the stud I0. When the stud I0 approaches the end B of its rearward :path oi travel, the lower arm 66 of the trip lever 56 strikes against the stop abutment "811.Y This causes the notch 62 of the trip lever 56 `to slide under the stud I0 thus releasing the stud which returns to its position A. (See Fig. 2.) v l,

During the rearwardly extending movement of the larger and smaller telescoping pistons I6 and I8, the springs 34 and 48 have become compressed. Diminishing the compressed air charge thus permits the springs 34 and 48 toreturn the two telescoping. pistons `I6 and I8 tol their normal positonshown in Fig. l. Near the end oflthis re- .turn movement the lower armi 66 of the trip lever 56 strikes against the abutment36 `causing the arm 66 to move against the pin 68 and thus returning the trip lever 56 to a position where itis ready again to engage the stud I6.

The forces requiredfor operation of the system are diagrammatically indicated on the chart, Fig. 7. When the pressure enters the cylindrical casing I2, it begins, as described,` by pushingboth telescoping pistons rearwardly and the resistance necessary to vdetach or loosen the packing member 28 from the wall of the cylindrical casing is indicated in Fig. '7 by the lreference character a. During that portion of the stroke o-m no other eiort is exerted on the telescoping pistons. This is very important. It will be noted that only at point n will the telescoping pistons begin to push the stud I0 rearwardly. This stud offers `a` resistancevwhich is indicated by the curve b. When the stud has arrived at the position o` the larger telescoping piston has finished its stroke and the smaller telescoping piston then continues to go rearwardly alone.

To the resistances indicated the resistance of the springs 34 and 46 must be added. The resistance oiered by the springs is shown by the curves c and d. The total resistance is indicated on the chart by the curve e. It is therefore nec- 'I essary to calculate any piston in accordance with the curve ;f.

It should be apparent from the above that if the stud were acted on by only one piston, and that piston was required at the same time to loosen the packing member and move the stud, that such a single piston must, to accomplish the result, necessarily present double d the surface, and would require about three times the amount of compressed air necessary for operation of the system described herein.

It is believed that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit'and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being Imerely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim: l

1. A device for recharging rapid ring guns comprising a cylinder mounted o n the gun and having a slot therein adapted to receive a member projecting lfrom the `gun andwhose movemeni-l is necessary to recharge the gun, telescoping pistons disposedI within said cylinder, means in one end of the cylinder for admitting a medium under pressure to said pistons to move them first simultaneously and then to extend one with respect to the other, means carried by the end of one of the pistons for engaging the member projecting from thegun, said last-named means being movable into and out of member engaging position, means carried by said cylinder for disengaging said last named means from said member as the farthest extending piston reaches the end of its charging stroke, means within the cylinder for returning the pistons to telescoped position, and means on the cylinder for restoring said member engaging means to a ,position for reengaging said member.

2. A device for recharging machine guns and the like comprising a cylindrical casing mounted on. the gun closed at both ends and having a y to move the pistons iirsi-l simultaneously as a unit and then to extend vthe second piston with respect to the first, means carried by the end of said second piston and adapted to engage the element projecting from the gun, stop means telas-coping pistons mounted within said housing, means within the housing for urging one of the pistons toward one end of said housing,

means between said pistons for urging the other piston into telescoped position with respect to the rst piston, means at one end of the housing to admit a medium under pressure to one end oi' said pistons rst to move both pistons as ar unit against the action of said rst means, and subsequently to move the second piston to its extended position against the action of said second means, and means carried by the second piston for engaging and moving an element on said gun to recharge the gun.

4. A device for recharging rapid firing guns, comprising, a housing mounted 'on the V-gun, two telescoping pistons mounted Within Said housing, means within the housing for urging one of the pistons toward one end of said housing, means between the pistons for urging the other piston into telescoped position withk respect to the first piston, means at one end of the housing to admit a medium under pressure to one end of said pistons rst to move both pistons as a unit against the action of said rst means, and subsequently to move the second piston to its extended position against the action of said second means, means carried by the second piston for engaging and moving an element on said gun to recharge the gun, and means carried by the housing for disengaging said last named means from said element as the second piston reaches the endof its stroke.

5. A device for recharging rapid ring guns, comprising, a housing mounted on the gun, two telescoping pistons mounted within said housing, means within the housing for urging one of the pistons toward one end of said housing, means between the pistons for urging the other piston into telescoped position with respect to the rst piston, means at one end of the housing to admit a medium under pressure to one end of said pistons iirst to move both pistons as a unit against the action of said rst means, and subsequently to move the second piston to its extended position against the action of said second means,

means carried by the second piston for engaging and moving an element on said gun to recharge the gun, means carried by the housing at one end thereto for disengaging said last named ,means from said element as the second piston reaches the end of its stroke, and means on the cylinder actuated by return movement of said pistons to their normal position for restoring said element engaging means to a position for again engaging the element.

' 6. A device for recharging rapid firing guns, comprising -a cylinder mounted on the gun and having a slot therein adapted to -receive a member projecting from the gun and whose movement is necessary to recharge the gun, telescoping pistons disposed within said cylinder, means at one end of the cylinder for admitting a medium under pressure to said pistons to move them first simultaneously and then to extend one with respect to the other, means carried by the end of one of the pistons for engaging the member projecting from the gun, said last named means comprising a pivoted ldouble armed lever, one arm having a notch for engaging the member projecting from the gun, mechanism carried by the piston which supports said lever for limiting the pivotal movement of the lever in one direction, stop meansdisposed on the inner wall` of the cylinder for engaging the other arm of f said lever to pivot said lever at the end of the charging stroke -to disengge the lever from the member projecting from said gun, spring means within the cylinder for returning the pistons to telescoped position and stop means also disposed on the inner wall of the cylinder to engage said other arm of said lever as the pistons return to their telescoped position to restore the lever to a position for reengaging said member.

'7. In a device as dened in claim 2, the ends of the pistons to which the medium under pres-` sure is admitted having circular grooves therein, and the i-lrst pistonhaving a passage therein to enable the medium to reach the groove in the end of the second piston.

8. Ina device as defined in claim 2, the ends of the pistons to which the medium under pressure is admitted having circular grooves therein, and the flrstvpiston having a passage therein to enable the medium to reach the groove in the end of the second piston, said last'named ends of each piston being provided with packing rings respectively engaging the inner wall of the cylindrical casing and the inner wall of the firstY piston. l

JACQUES GUSTAVE MEJ EAN. 

